Courtship of Ages Past Cera & Trike
by Sleeping-force's-inside
Summary: Third Installment of the Series. The Story of how Cera met and was courted by Trike. R & E & R Epilogue Online!
1. Prologue

**Category:**** Land before Time**

**Rating:**** T **

**Couples in Series:**** Littlefoot/Ali, Cera/OC, Ducky/OC, Petri/OC, Spike/OC**

**Couples in this installment:**** Cera/OC**

**Warnings:**** AU**

**Chapter:**** Prologue**

**Copyright:**** © characters and places by United Pictures; © Plot and OC by me**

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"That was awkward." Ali told Littlefoot. "Mr. Threehorn really dislikes Cera no longer being alone, doesn't he?"

"I don't think I need to answer that." Littlefoot chuckled. "If looks could kill, Trike'd be dead in a matter of moments."

"He'd not be the first." Cera sighed, covering her face with her forelegs. "You should have seen Dad when I was being courted. I think the only reason he didn't beat up every guy that came close was because he had to protect Tria."

Trike solemnly nodded beside her.

" 'Protect Tria'?" Ducky echoed. "Why would he need to protect her?"

"It's the Threehorn-courting-method." Cera explained. "Men beat each other up for a girl, and the winner can become her mate. Or at least try to become her mate."

The others blinked a few times as they digested that.

"No rituals?" Ali wondered.

"Only if 'beat the others up' counts as a ritual." Cera gestured to Trike. "He beat up about half a dozen."

"Eight, to be exact." Her mate pointed out. "And then I stood up to her father, which was a challenge all in itself."

The Gang nodded solemnly at that before breaking out in loud laughter. After all these Cold Times, Mr. Threehorn was still much like he had been in their youths, breaking in a rage at the tiniest excuse. They still remembered when a lone Fast Biter – not Screech or Thud – had managed to sneak into the Valley and threatened Tricia. He had nearly been catapulted out again by the enraged father. It had ended when the Fast Biter, with bruises all over, had sprinted out faster than anyone would have thought possible.

Since then Mr. Threehorn had earned the nickname of Brokenhorn – though heaven forbid you ever called him that to his face – since he had rammed a boulder so hard one of his magnificent horns had lost its' tip.

"Wait, does that mean you watched your father fight the entire time?" Petrie wondered.

"Pretty much." Cera nodded. "I guess it's my turn?"


	2. Chapter 1

**Category:**** Land before Time**

**Rating:**** T **

**Couples in Series:**** Littlefoot/Ali, Cera/OC, Ducky/OC, Petri/OC, Spike/OC**

**Couples in this installment:**** Cera/OC**

**Warnings:**** AU**

**Chapter:**** 1**

**Copyright:**** © characters and places by United Pictures; © Plot and OC by me**

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"How far is it exactly?" Cera asked, watching as her father plodded ahead. He was leading the small herd, since there were several Threehorns participating this year and they had decided to travel together.

"About a week of travel." Tria answered from beside her. Tricia had stayed behind in the Valley, still being too young to attend the Courtship. Not that she minded, since she thought romance was icky. Her father was very happy with that.

Cera groaned at that. "Really?"

"The Great Valley lies quite a bit away from the place where we court." Tria told her. "But don't worry, there isn't much climbing involved."

"Not much?" Cera echoed. "What is 'not much'?"

"Only the mountains around the Great Valley." Tria assured her. "Nothing more."

"Well, I guess it could be worse." Cera muttered under her breath.

Both of them fell silent, walking through the desolate landscape into the direction where the Bright Circle was at its' highest point and they only stopped when it had long set. The Night Circle was bright this particular night, casting its' light far across the field they slept upon.

Mr. Threehorn joined his daughter and mate somewhere in the middle of the night, having spent the first half of it on the lookout for Sharpteeth.

Most of the journey was uneventful, except for an incident about halfway to their destination where they were ambushed by a pack of Fast Biters. While they managed to hunt them off again, one of their herd-members was wounded and would be unable to make the rest of the journey. One of the older couples offered to help him back to the Valley, forsaking their chance to attend this year. This way the herd had lost almost a quarter of its' members and would lose even more when youngsters would leave with their mates rather than return to the Valley with their peers.

Cera glanced at the youngsters in her herd. Aside from her and the male that had been forced to return to the Valley to await the Courtship of next year, there had been three others that would attend for the first time. Then there was another older couple aside from Tria and her father and one old widower who wanted to see if he could find someone to spend his last few Cold Times with.

Tria had explained to her extensively what Threehorns looked for in a mate, so she passed the time by subtly judging the others. She and Tria would be among the most sought-after females from this group, because of their rare coloring and good descend (which basically meant that if your father could beat another threehorn up, your sons would most likely be able to do the same, hence the boys would like you more). She had snickered when Tria told her that piece of information. Her father really was perfect in that regard.

Her father had no reason to worry either – aside from the fact he already had a mate and was only going to reaffirm that relationship while escorting his daughter to her first Courtship – since he was amongst the most massive Threehorns Cera had ever met. He once uprooted several trees just because he didn't want to walk around them and then had had enough strength to topple a huge boulder.

The widower was similar enough in build to her father that she doubted he'd get any trouble, aside maybe from his age which had to have some negative effects on his stamina.

The other older couple was moderate. The female would not get fought over like she was the last Tree Star in a desert, but also not ignored completely. Cera of course could not say anything of her 'descend' since she doubted she'd meet the older female's father. Her mate, while certainly muscled and well-build, was suffering from an old Fast Biter wound which would act up after long use of the leg it was on. She doubted he would be able to fight many duels as she had been told were common at Courtship.

The other three participants were a bit harder to judge. One was a male who was not yet fully grown, being slower in that regard since he had suffered from lack of food when he was young. While smaller, he still was well-build and his horns were surprisingly thick for a Threehorn his size. She guessed he might not get one of the best females, but certainly get one of the better moderate females.

The second was another female. While her mud-brown color was not something that would entice many males to her, her descend could make up for that. Cera had seen the female's father briefly and to her own dislike had to admit that he was possibly better than her own father.

The third was another male, brother to the female. Sadly he had more of his mother than his father. He was a shade of pale-grey much like her father's belly color and was quite shy for a Threehorn. She doubted he'd have the guts needed to fight more than one or two duels if at all for a female.


	3. Chapter 2

**Category:**** Land before Time**

**Rating:**** T **

**Couples in Series:**** Littlefoot/Ali, Cera/OC, Ducky/OC, Petri/OC, Spike/OC**

**Couples in this installment:**** Cera/OC**

**Warnings:**** AU**

**Chapter:**** 2**

**Copyright:**** © characters and places by United Pictures; © Plot and OC by me**

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Their courting-grounds were a wide open field of low ferns surrounding an impressive water-hole. When Cera broke free from the forest on one side she gasped softly at seeing the sheer number of Treehorns grazing peacefully.

"Less than last time I was here." Tria said absentmindedly as she looked the field over. "Though there is a better distribution."

"Huh?" Cera was only listening with half an ear to her step-mother.

"Last time there were almost three times as many males as there were females." Tria smiled. "This time the numbers are more evenly matched, I say."

"Is that good or bad?" Cera looked at her.

"For you it doesn't make much difference." Her step-mother told her. "But for the 'lesser' females it does." The pink Threehorn broke free from the small herd, walking to another group in the distance. "Want to meet my family?"

"Sure." Cera answered, following the older female over to where she saw several Threehorns with similar coloring to her step-mother. Her father kept leading the other Threehorns from the Great Valley to a different spot where they would rest during the nights.

"Tria!" An older female greeted the other. It was only then that Cera realized she was lagging behind. She quickly caught up with Tria, waiting as she greeted everyone.

"And who is your friend here?" One of the males said. He was colored a deep purple and an ugly-looking scar ran down the entirety of his shield.

"This is Cera." Tria introduced the orange female. "Topsy's daughter. Cera, this is my older brother Ridus."

"Ah." He said. "Pleased to meet you, Tria told us much about you."

"Likewise." Cera nodded in greeting. "Do I want to know what she told you?"

"Only the good stuff." A dark-brown female answered, chuckling softly. "I am Cornia, Ridus' mate."

"Good stuff?" Cera echoed, looking at her innocently smiling stepmother. "Triaaaa?"

Tria chuckled. "Nothing too bad or embarrassing, I swear. I saved the embarrassing for your father."

"Okay…" Cera wasn't sure how to react to that, so she just went with the flow. The rest of the conversation was a lot less awkward, mainly introducing the others to her and telling interesting stories. She even heard one or two about her father. It was hilarious.

Though halfway through one of them her father actually appeared and he thought it a whole lot less amusing than she and Tria did.

She became worried when her father and step-uncle locked horns after a short shouting-match, but her step-mother and step-aunt assured her it was just how those two behaved around each other.

"Your uncle wasn't that happy with how Topsy acted in the beginning." Tria explained. "He still hasn't quite forgiven him."

"Is that how he got that scar?" Cera watched as the two males disengaged, now merely glaring at each other.

"No, that was a Fast Biter." Cornia said. "He got that when he was protecting a sleeping me from it. I am a deep sleeper and would have slept straight through it too had he not bumped into me."

"Really?" Cera asked, giggling under her breath.

"Jup, ask Tria. She was still in the herd back then." The brown female gestured over to the pink one.

"I wondered about that, actually." Cera said. "You appeared in the valley without a herd, what happened?"

"Broken heart." Tria simply said. "It's a long story really. Let's just say I wanted to see if I had a chance with your father for several reasons I won't delve into right now."

"Yeah, that might have almost not worked out, no?" Cera remembered, laughing softly at the trouble she had given Tria back then. The laughter coming from her side told her that Tria was remembering the same thing.

"It was a pretty close call." Tria admitted after their laughter died down. "Had I just known you were more like your father, I'd have confronted you like that sooner."

"No doubt." Cera rolled her eyes. "'Cera, you look tired, are you alright, sweety?'" She mimicked Tria in a sweet voice. It didn't work at all.

"I don't sound like that." The pink threehorn objected.

"You sure did." Her orange step-daughter countered.

"Most assuredly not."

"Most assuredly yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"You both did." The brown threehorn interrupted. "Now stop it. You're worse than those two." She gestured to the two males, who were still glaring at each other.

"Do they usually take this long?" Cera asked surprised that those two were still at it.

"They forget all time." Tria sighed. "I have half a mind to just start flirting with some of the other males and see how long it takes Topsy to react."

"Same here." Cornia nodded in agreement.


	4. Chapter 3

**Category:**** Land before Time**

**Rating:**** T **

**Couples in Series:**** Littlefoot/Ali, Cera/OC, Ducky/OC, Petri/OC, Spike/OC**

**Couples in this installment:**** Cera/OC**

**Warnings:**** AU**

**Chapter:**** 3**

**Copyright:**** © characters and places by United Pictures; © Plot and OC by me**

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The bellowing calls from Threehorns echoed across the field. The females were grazing idly as around them the males fought as if they were possessed. Cera looked up briefly from the ferns she was munching, watching as several males clashed in her field of view, which Tria had told her meant they were fighting over her.

She watched with some disinterest as the victor of one round immediately got challenged by someone else. Her step-mother had not been kidding when saying she would be one of the most sought-after females this year.

As the males fought in front of her she looked over to where her father and step-mother were. Since they were an established couple, the fights between the males were merely for show, though the 'attractiveness' of the wife indicated how many fights the husband had to win to not lose face. It did not look like her father had lost yet.

She absentmindedly chewed the last bit of the ferns as another fight started. She sighed in disappointment that again the victor of the fight was not the one who won the duel before that. If it continued like this, she'd go home lonely because too many had been fighting over her…

The orange Threehorn looked up when a new challenger appeared. Now that was a Threehorn she wouldn't mind winning. He was about her age and towered over several of the other males, dwarfing some of the smaller ones. Several of them backed down, turning their attention to other females, but several still stayed behind, apparently not amused with the fact that there suddenly was a new face interested in her.

He however seemed to care less for all the males now turning on him. Instead he calmly told them to get moving, either by leaving, or by attacking. Most choose attacking.

Cera stopped eating completely now, watching as he literally battled his way through her suitors without seemingly even breaking a sweat. She had to admit she was quite flattered with the devotion he seemed to put in winning the right to try and become her mate.

She flinched when one of the other Threehorns screamed in pain as the sharp tip of one of the horns of the brown male cut into his frill. For him the Courting was over: once wounded, even if he won every battle, most females would turn him down for carrying such a wound.

It was after the fourth victory the male started to pump blood into his own frill, revealing the striking pattern. Now he was really getting serious about this. Several more retreated at that, redirecting their attentions elsewhere.

She faintly noticed that her father had a break in his fights and was now watching what was going on with his daughter. She wondered how he'd react to the blood-filled frill of the male in front of her.

Cera made a mental note to ask Tria about that later. But for now she watched the happenings in front of her, her green eyes narrowing as she studied the few males remaining in front of her.

Her head tilted forward a bit as she saw several of the rejected males return. As if they'd stand a chance this time around…

It took her a bit to realize they would not be properly fighting the brown male and were instead planning to gang up on him.

She snorted in anger. Now that wouldn't do at all.

One of the smaller ones charged as another was occupying the brown male in the front by locking horns with him. But instead of hitting the brown body as intended, the male ran straight into another set of horns, startling green eyes glaring at him in anger. His own widened when he realized who had stopped him in his tracks and was even pushing him back.

"Buzz off." Cera snarled, pushing a bit more. He backed away quickly.

She meanwhile had turned, where it seemed the brown male had won even that battle.

"How about a walk?" She asked him softly, tilting her head to look at him demurely. Despite there still being several hours of light left, she had made her choice.

"Certainly." He answered her, stepping up beside her, ignoring the other males. "Lead the way."

The looks they got as Cera led him from the field were mostly out of jealousy, though she could feel the eyes of her father burn in the back of her head too.

"I am Cera." She introduced herself as they settled down in the cool shade.

"Trike." He told her. "You certainly attracted a crowd out there, didn't you?"

"No kidding." She shook her head lightly. "You joined pretty late though."

"I arrived too late." He countered. "A fast-water flooded, forcing my herd to make quite a detour. But considering you choose me you can't mind that much, can you?"

"True." She relented, watching as he got up and approached her. "You do realize my father is watching?"

Trike looked over his shoulder. "Well, he looks happy." In other words, Mr. Threehorn was glaring so hard even a boulder might crack under the intensity of it. "Mind if we take it somewhere where he does not see us?"

"You want to die, don't you?" The orange female wondered, but she got up none the less.

"Best to die early and happy, than to die later and unhappy." He winked at her. She surprised herself by giggling and following him.


	5. Epilogue

**Category:**** Land before Time**

**Rating:**** T **

**Couples in Series:**** Littlefoot/Ali, Cera/OC, Ducky/OC, Petri/OC, Spike/OC**

**Couples in this installment:**** Cera/OC**

**Warnings:**** AU**

**Chapter:**** Epilogue**

**Copyright:**** © characters and places by United Pictures; © Plot and OC by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"And you survived that?" Rana looked down on the brown Threehorn from where she was perched in a tree beside Petrie. "He doesn't seem to be the type to forgive something like that."

"Barely." Trike admitted. "Broken horn or not, I think he would have handed me my ass on a Treestar if Tria had not interfered."

"He would have." Cera agreed with him, chuckling a bit. "I think even Red Claw would have been hard-pressed to get such a glare."

"That… Is that even possible?" Ducky wondered, her sky-blue eyes wide.

"It is hard to fathom." Littlefoot agreed, looking over to where the rest of the Threehorn-family was grazing in the distance. "But he does not seem to have a problem with you now, does he?"

"It did take him a while to forgive me." Trike stated. He chuckled as well. "Oh, the glares he threw my way. It made me almost regret getting it on with his daughter."

"Excuse me?" His mate demanded, glaring at him.

"I said 'almost', my love." Trike nuzzled her.

"You better." Cera huffed, turning her head away from him. She yelped when he poked her with his nose-horn.

Soon enough her friends were laughing as if there would be no tomorrow and they only laughed harder as she glared at them.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"These Mud-pools are wonderful." Rana sighed. Cera had invited the other females to join her there for some time away from the boys.

"Even if Ali doesn't fit." Ducky looked at the Longneck resting on the ground a bit away.

"Well excuse me." Ali chuckled. "I could squeeze myself in, but then none of you would fit."

"I think even then it would be a tight fit." Tega stated, resting next to her sister-in-law. The Spiketail rumbled in happiness as she sank a bit deeper into the warm mud.

"True." Cera looked at the other four. "Besides, I think Tria would not forgive us for wrecking her mud-pool."

"I can imagine." Ali dipped her tail in. "It seems to be quite nice."

"It is." Ducky's crest call echoed in the small glade. "Also, I must admit I was wondering about something…"

"Oh?" Rana righted herself, looking at the Swimmer opposite of her.

"Well, we all no doubt did… _that _somewhere during these last few changes of the Night Circle." Ducky giggled softly. "So I was wondering: who of us already has some eggs on the way?"

The other females looked at her in a mixture of surprise and shock.

"I think I do." Ali suddenly said. "I can't be certain yet though."

"I don't." Rana admitted. "There's not much time for… _that…"_ She mimicked Ducky's way of saying it. "when you're flying."

"I am certain I do." Cera stated. "I haven't told either Dad or Trike yet, so you all shut up."

"I think it might be smarter not to tell your father." Tega chuckled. "I'm not, by the way. Having your mate more interested in eating with you than… doing _that _with you does not help." She laughed softly.

Now all four looked at Ducky, who despite asking the question, had not yet answered it herself.

"One: why does it seem like you are making fun of me?" Ducky counted on her fingers. "And two: what do you think yourself? I am a Swimmer, not a Longneck. No offense." She looked at Ali at that last one.

"None taken." Ali assured her. "It's true that Longnecks are slow breeders. Especially compared to Swimmers. And yes, they were making fun of you."

"So in short: the Threehorn, the Longneck and the Swimmer will have hatchlings and the Spiketail and the Flyer need to wait a bit more?" Tega summarized. "And the Swimmer gets picked on?"

Ducky glared, but soon enough dissolved into loud laughter. She still couldn't remain upset with anyone, even after all these Cold Times.


End file.
